Michelle Reis Movies
Intended as the pilot for a an E.R.-style medical drama set in Hong Kong, Healing Hearts features Tony Leung as Lawrence, a doctor whose personal life has been left in shambles after the tragic hit-and-run death of his wife. As Lawrence sets off to find the driver and bring him to justice, one of his colleagues finds himself distracted by a beautiful coma patient. Healing Hearts was directed by Gary Tang and features Leung Chiu-Wai, Michelle Reis, Kenny Bee, Stephen Fung, and Jackie Lui.
~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Michelle Reis, (more)
- 2000
The fantastically prolific Takashi Miike directs this dizzyingly stylish thriller -- one of four in the year 2000 alone -- about love, cocaine, and exile. In the film's near-wordless opening, half-Japanese Brazil Mario (Teah) wipes out a room full of his fellow criminals in a bar in Sao Paolo and then strips naked in the dust storm outside. Mario is next seen one year later rescuing his Chinese girlfriend, Kei (Michelle Reis), from being deported. The event, which involved the hijacking of a helicopter, a gun fight amid the Joshua trees of the vast Japanese desert (!), and a harrowing 80-foot leap into Tokyo's Shinjuku district, instantly becomes the stuff of legend among Japan's large and beleaguered foreign population. Desperately wanting to get out of the country, Mario and Kei get entangled with a coke deal that goes sour between Mr. Ko (Mitsuhiro Oikawa), an effete though deadly Chinese mobster with unwholesome designs on Kei, and Fushimi (Koji Kikkawa), a psychotic yakuza who brutally kidnaps a blind orphan for his own terrible ends. Kung-fu cockfights, murderous Ping-Pong matches, and religious miracles ensue. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Teah, Michelle Reis, (more)
- 2000
Renowned director Stanley Kwan spins this parable about post-handover Hong Kong, the second in a trilogy about the former colony that began with Hold You Tight (1998). Inspired from the 1998 "bird flu" that killed several people and prompted authorities to order the wholesale slaughter of that city's chickens, this film centers on seven disparate people trapped on an island because of a government quarantine. The film opens with Haruki (Takao Osawa), a Japanese writer suffering from consumption, trying to write his next novel. Other characters that populate the film include Sharon (Michele Reis), a lesbian Chinese-American businesswoman who lived on the island as a child, Sharon's married Japanese friend Marianne (Kaori Momoi), and party girl Mei Ling (played by former pin-up model Shu Qi), who came to the island to meet a Brit with whom she shacked up the night before. Also, there is young actor Han (Julian Cheung), hailing from Hong Kong, and Bo (Gordon Liu) the gay middle-aged manager of the island's hotel. After the aforementioned people cross paths, news comes that the government has stopped all traffic to and from the island for an indefinite period of time in order to prevent the spread of the "stone virus." As the long night wears on, the inhabitants have little to do except wait and talk. Soon they begin to reveal more and more of themselves. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Takao Osawa, Shu Qi, (more)
Hou Hsiao-hsien (Goodbye South, Goodbye) directed this Taiwanese-Japanese period drama set in the British section brothels of 19th-century Shanghai. Chu Tien-wen's screenplay was adapted from Han Ziyun's 1894 novel Haishang Huia Liezhuang (Biographies of Flowers of Shanghai), translated from the original dialect to Mandarin during the '30s by Shanghai writer Eileen Chang. Around 1884, during the closing years of Imperial China, Crimson (Japanese actress Michiko Hada) worries that she's about to be dropped by civil servant Wang (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), since he's spending so much time with Jasmin (Wei Hsiao-hui). Emotions escalate when word arrives that Wang will relocate to another post in the Canton province. Shown in competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Michiko Hada, (more)
Not to be mistaken for the movie in which a smirking Bruce Willis saves the world, this film, directed by Gordon Chan, is a rare example of a Hong Kong sci-fi thriller. The film opens with a noted scientist bursting into flames in a church belfry at the exact moment that a number of satellites fail. Dr. Ken Tak (Andy Lau), a renowned computer scientist, soon learns that two of his colleagues, who met with similarly grizzly ends, were approached by a shadowy organization called the Brotherhood of Technology. Before their untimely deaths, Tak and the two dead scientists were working on a revolutionary computer system called VOD, which would effectively put the internet providers, video game companies, and film studios out of business. While the police suspect agents in the entertainment industry behind the killings, Tak's suspicions run more towards the supernatural. His theories are confirmed when Adele (Michelle Reis), Tak's long-dead girlfriend, suddenly shows up at his doorstep. When Tak's investigation leads him to Prague, he learns that the Earth's end is indeed nigh. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andy Lau, Anthony Wong, (more)
- 1997
Roy Chueng Yiu Yeung was so memorable as a sociopathic supervillian in the previous installment of Young and Dangerous that he returns in this outing as a different character. With the don of the Hung Hing group, Chiang Tin-sung, dead, his underlings journey to Thailand to persuade his brother, Tin-yeung (Alex Man Chi-leung), to helm the crime syndicate. Meanwhile, an ambition young gangster, Lui Yiu-yeung (Chueng), from the rival Tung Sing group tries to make a play for the big time by killing his boss and dumping the body in Ho-nam's (Dior Cheng Yee-kin) turf. At the same time, a rift in Ho-nam's long-time friendship with Chicken (Jordan Chan Siu-chun) when the former fails to support the latter's bid for a higher level position. This feud eventually spills over into a showdown with Lui, after that gangster's henchmen kills one of Ho-nam and Chicken's friends. The critically panned Young and Dangerous 5 and Young and Dangerous: the Prequel follow up on this installment. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cheng Yee-kin, Jordan Chan, (more)
Wong Kar-wai's Fallen Angels is a sequel of sorts to the director's 1994 U.S. breakthrough Chungking Express. Expanding on the latter's style, themes, and mood, Fallen Angels is set in the surreal milieu of urban, nighttime Hong Kong. As with the filmmaker's other features, plot takes a back seat to mood. The wisp of a narrative intercuts two story lines. The first follows a hitman (Leon Lai) who finds that the assassin's life has slowly lost its allure. Complicating his life is his beautiful contact (Michele Reis, a former Miss Hong Kong winner) who pines after him with fetishistic ardor, although the two have never met in their nearly three-year partnership. In another part of the city, He (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a mute, boyish ex-convict, makes a living by sneaking into and running businesses after hours. Still living with his father who runs the Chungking Mansions hotel, the restless Ho falls for Cherry (Charlie Yeung), a woman getting over her breakup with the offscreen Johnny. The movie follows these episodic romances almost half-heartedly as with Wong's other films, and digressionary moments attract much of the camera's distracted gaze. This visually stylish and unabashedly effusive work is considered by some critics to be the quintessential Wong film. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Lai, Michelle Reis, (more)
Hong Kong filmmaker Lau Kar-leung followed up the outstanding Drunken Master II by directing this mostly unrelated martial arts comedy which still manages to garner a few laughs despite its dubious reputation and the absence of Jackie Chan. In Chan's place is comedian Willie Chi as Wong Fei-hong, who is assigned -- along with his partner, Wong Kei-ying (Adam Cheng) -- to protect a Manchu princess named Sum Yu (Michelle Lee). Princess Yu is being hunted both by the malefic White Lotus Cult (actually run by white people in this spoof) and by nationalists loyal to Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Fei-hong receives additional help from a wine merchant, Uncle Yan (played by the film's director), who instructs him in special martial arts techniques. Unfortunately, the Manchu leaders fall in with the White Lotus Cult and relinquish Princess Yu to them to be ritually sacrificed, causing Fei-hong to undertake a daring rescue mission. Simon Yam appears as a gay villain aboard a bus, and the supporting cast also includes such familiar genre veterans as Andy Lau, Gordon Lau, and William Ho. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Following closely on the heels of the original Fong Sai Yuk, a martial arts action-comedy featuring the acrobatic skills of martial arts star Jet Li, Fong Sai Yuk 2 offers a similar mixture of adventure, action, and farce. The previous film had concluded with Fong Sai Yuk working with the secret Red Lotus Society to defeat an evil villain; now, Sai Yuk is undergoing his official initiation into the society. Despite being the society's newest member, he is asked to participate in an important mission: helping to retrieve a sacred box containing a valuable secret. The initial attempt fails, however, and Sai Yuk is the only one to survive. The society's leaders accuse him of cowardice and incompetence, but, thanks to the intervention of Sai Yuk's equally tough mother, he is given a chance to redeem himself. This time, however, he is to woo the daughter of the powerful governor who holds the box -- an idea which obviously will not please his fiancee Ting Ting. While the farcical elements are not quite as well-handled as in its predecessor, Fong Sai Yuk 2 does match the original by delivering a number of spectacularly choreographed fighting sequences. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jet Li
Starring the fabulous Jet Li, this incredible historical epic with its deft blend of high drama, slapstick, and more subtle forms of comedy coupled with breathtaking martial-arts action represents Hong Kong -- filmmaking at its very best. The story contains many serpentine twists and a complex mixture of plots and subplots. The story is set during the Manchu dynasty in Canton. Li plays Sai Yuk, a courageous young martial-arts expert who is the very best around, as can be seen in the opening kung-fu matches. Those he beats swear vengeance, and a chaotic fight breaks out. All involved, including Sai Yuk, end up in jail. Sai Yuk's father is most displeased. Later Tiger Lei, a local official, decrees that whoever can beat his wife, Siu Huan, in a match will win his daughter Ting Ting's hand in marriage. Lei then builds an enormous scaffold on which the combatants will fight; the first fighter to touch the ground loses. Sai Yuk gladly takes on the feisty mother. Unfortunately, after seeing the homely woman he takes to be Ting Ting, Sai Yuk decides to lose the fight. His own wild and crazy mother is mortified by the potential loss of face. To save the family honor, she masquerades as Sai Yuk's brother, Tai Yuk, and beats the tar out of Siu Huan. Unfortunately, Lei insists that the victor honor the marriage contract, something complicated by the fact that Siu Huan finds Tai Yuk irresistibly handsome. While that mess gets untangled, another brews when the family learns that patriarch Fong is a member of the notorious rebel Red Lotus Society, a group the governor has vowed to destroy with the help of Tiger Lei. Back again to the romantic travails, after much confusion, Sai Yuk and Ting Ting agree to marry and begin preparing for their wedding. They hold a pre-nuptial feast, one that the governor attends. Chop-socky chaos ensues resulting in the accidental shooting of Siu Huan and the capture of the elder Fong. This leaves the son to figure out how to save his father from losing his head to the vengeful official. The story's climax involves a major confrontation between the governor, Sai-Yuk, his lady, his crazy mother, and a town full of irate citizens. A sequel, Fong Sai-Yuk 2, followed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jet Li, Josephine Siao Fong-fong, (more)
- 1992
- NR
Peter Mak Tai-kit spins this exuberant, visually dense adaptation from the popular similarly named Japanese anime. The film is set in a world where shape-shifting alien creatures known as Raptors have infiltrated human society. To deal with this problem, Hong Kong has fashioned a secret government task force aptly known as the Anti-Raptor Bureau, recruiting young talent with telekinetic abilities such as Taki (Leon Lai Ming) and Ken (Jacky Cheung Hok-yau). The bureau's current interest is in Japanese billionaire Daishu (played by Japanese screen legend Tatsuya Nakadai, who spends much of the film looking like he is going to kill his agent) who they figure is well over 150 years old and a likely Raptor. For his part, Daishu preaches peaceful co-habitation with humans. His deranged son, Shudo (Roy Cheung Yiu-yueng), on the other hand, espouses the wholesale destruction of the human race. Of course, the presence of a mysterious drug called Happiness, which gives Raptors fantastic strength and a hair-trigger temper, is not helping the cause of the peacemakers. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacky Cheung, Leon Lai, (more)
- 1992
- NR
In this swashbuckler a handsome, lovestruck swordsman must battle it out with the power-mad father of his one true love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Lai, Cheung Man, (more)
Yu Ming-sang spins this martial arts fantasy loosely adapted from Romeo and Juliet. The Chun clan and the Ha Hou clan are desperately vying with one another to regain their respective former glories. Though their families are at each other's throats, Choi Siu-ling (Michelle Lee Kar-yan), the princess of the Chun, and Ha Hou (Lau Sek-ming), of the similarly named family, have fallen in love. This is particularly galling to Ha's wrathful aunt (Kara Hui Ying-hung), who is single-minded in her pursuit for family glory. Meanwhile, one of Choi's guardians, General Lau Qun-hung (Lau Chi-hung), tries to steal her magical jade pipe in order to give it to the evil Wizard of Yin (Lau Shun) but accidentally takes a fake pipe instead, planted by Lau's wife, General Choi Siu-ching (Cynthia Yang Li-ching). ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Directed by Gordon Chan, Royal Tramp 2 stars Brigitte Lin as the leader of an all female martial arts sect whose power is based soley on remaining celibate. Knowing this, the ill-intentioned Prince instructs his goons to poison her with one of the few substances she is not immune to; a poison that can only be remedied by having sex. Luckily, Wilson Bond (Stephen Crow) is up to the task. Once 80% of Lin's mysterious power is transferred to him post-sexual encounter, Wilson becomes a martial artist extraordinaire.
~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- 1990
In this martial arts adventure set in the Ming Dynasty, a young swordsman named Fox (Sam Hui) gets involved in a quest for a scroll that contains invaluable secrets of swordsmanship. Many warring factions are after the scroll, and they are more than willing to kill Fox to get it. A conflict with the film's producer, Tsui Hark, caused the director King Hu to quit the film during production, and Hark and some other directors took over. However, the subsequent inconsistencies do not detract from the film's spectacular swordfights.
~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacky Cheung
- 1990
Loosely based on Kazuo Koike's famous manga Crying Freeman, Clarence Fok Yiu-leung spins this wild and woolly gangster drama. The film centers around a ruthless band of criminals called "The Eight Hundred Dragons," who pitilessly track down and kill any defecting members. Snooker (Dean Shek Tien) has held out the longest by hiding out in Russia. When the grand master of the clan learns of Snooker's whereabouts, he kidnaps him and his young daughter. Meanwhile, the villainous master also orders the kidnapping and brainwashing of Snooker's friend Yao (Sam Hui Kook-kit). After his memory has been erased with mind rubbers, Yao is given over to elder master Chimer (Nina Li Chi) and turned into a secret hired gun. When he whacks the Godfather of Japan, who is protected by the wrathful Hunteress (Carrie Ng Kar-lai), Yao soon finds a hit out on him. During the assassination, he runs into May (Maggie Chueng Man-yuk), Yao's former girlfriend. Since she is a witness to the crime, Chimer orders her dead too, but Yao can't bring himself to do it -- even though he has no memory of her. Soon, finds himself protecting May from both Chimer's and the Huntress' henchmen. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
This continuation of A Chinese Ghost Story reunites some of the original cast. Ning Leslie Cheung, the wandering scholar from the first film, is mistakenly imprisoned. An old man helps him escape and gives him a medallion for good luck. Ning meets a group of rebels, and the medallion causes them to mistake him for the old man, who turns out to be a well-known sage. Joey Wong, who played the ghostly heroine in the first film, portrays Windy, the leader of the rebels. Ning falls in love with Windy because of her resemblance to his past love and joins in a struggle to save her father from an evil warlord. The romantic element is toned down from the original; this installment emphasizes outrageous martial arts sequences, creatures, and special effects. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Cheung, Joey Wong, (more)
